I wasn't planning on posting Christmas recipes, let alone creating them - maybe that's why it happened. These easy, yet oh so delightfully yummy, raw truffels will become my go-to recipe, I'm sure, for when I want something sweet fast. They do not call for a lot of ingredients and you will most likely have them in store (I always have dried fruits in my pantry in case of things like this..) Make a few batches for Christmas; and I'm sure your friends wouldn't mind little presents either!

RAW COCOA TRUFFELS

250g dried dates (soaked for a few hours)
250ml shredded coconut
50ml raw cacao powder
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
shredded coconut or raw cacao powder for coating


Soak the dates in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in cacao powder or shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.

Notes:
You can use regular dark cacao powder instead of raw cacao powder; I've stuck to raw since it's less processed and has got a lot more of its valuable nutrients left.

 

RAW FIG TRUFFELS

200g dried figs and/or apricots (soaked for a few hours)
150ml shredded coconut
50ml coarse almond flour
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
0,25-0,5tsp cinnamon
shredded coconut for coating


Cut off the hard stems from the figs. Soak the figs and/or apricots in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients one by one and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.


Notes:
I prefer organic on most products and apricot is definitely one of them. They’re not treated with any sulfur or artificial color and so are very different from the non-organic ones. You can go for either figs or apricots or a mix or really any dried fruits! For almond flour I pulsed almond flakes in the food processor because I had them at hand, but you can of course use ready almond flour, and preferably coarse. You can also use fine almond flour, your truffels will just become a little more dense. You can, all in all, play with this recipe a lot; substitute almond flour with more shredded coconut or oatmeal. Leave out cinnamon or use more! Taste after adding each ingredient to get just the truffels you'll love!

Banana coconut pancakes

This morning the sun shone in, I made banana coconut pancakes and then carried on unpacking stuff in my new home. I'm getting there! (I've made these pancakes on so many mornings lately. I've tweaked the recipe a little to have banana taste more, yum.)

BANANA COCONUT PANCAKES

(makes about 15 small pancakes)

3 (large) ripe bananas
5 organic eggs
75g shredded coconut
coconut oil for frying


Mash the bananas with a fork. Beat the eggs lightly and add them and the shredded coconut and stir until combined. Bake 3-4 pancakes (about 7cm in diameter) at a time in a pan on medium heat. Flip the pancakes very carefully; with a little more banana and a little less eggs these are very fragile but they're so worth the effort! Serve with blueberries and maple syrup.

I am not really into raw food but I do like eating things that are healthy and good for me and taste scrumptious. My roommate introduced me to raw chocolate back in the day and it was love at first sight. This is a new recipe I found when I accidentally bought a huge pack of cocoa mass in place of cocoa butter. I'm happy I did. These are amazing. (The recipe calls for ingredients that are rather expensive and some of them are only found in special stores, but trust me, getting them is worth it. In Helsinki you find everything for example in Ruohonjuuri.)

HEAVENLY RAW CHOCOLATE

(makes about 40)

100g cocoa mass
100ml grated cocoa butter
100ml coconut oil
4-6tbsp organic honey
a good pinch of himalayan salt
200ml lucuma
1tbsp maca


Break cocoa mass into small pieces and melt in a bowl over hot water (bring the water to boil and then turn the heat off). Add grated cocoa butter and coconut oil and stir till they melt. Add honey and salt and whisk thoroughly. Whisk in lucuma and maca. Spoon the mixture into two ice cube trays and sprinkle coconut flakes on top. Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Store the chocolate in the fridge.

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.1

I am so in love with my newest cookbook, The Green Kitchen. As I wrote earlier I'd like to do what Julie did to Julia Child's cookbook (in the film Julie&Julia) with it. Cook it through and document it here. If I remember right Julie cooked a recipe per day but I'm thinking more like once a week or so and I'm propably not setting a particular day in a week either, at least not yet, to keep it fun and spontaneous.

I actually already kicked off the project when I last had Helena over for breakfast with Banana & Coconut Pancakes. Oh my goodness these are good.

FLOUR-FREE BANANA & COCONUT PANCAKES

(makes about 15)

3 ripe bananas
6 eggs
50g-75g shredded coconut
(150g blueberries)
0,5tsp ground cinnamon
coconut oil for frying


Mash the bananas with a fork. Beat the eggs lightly and add them and the rest of the ingredients. (I use about 75g of shredded coconut; the blog version of this recipe calls for 100g and the book version for 50g. I like using more than 50g because then the batter is thicker and so will the pancakes be.) I have now made these both with and without blueberries in the batter and I prefer having blueberries fresh on the side. Bake 3-4 pancakes at a time in a regular pan on medium heat (these burn easily). The Green Kitchen suggests maple syrup and/or plain yoghurt for serving; I serve these with fresh berries, maple syrup and quark.

I am very excited about this project; I'm sure there are plenty of amazing recipes in the book I would never try out otherwise (because you never really cook your cookbooks through, do you). The Green Kitchen also seems to be a perfect summertime cookbook and will definitely travel up north with me for July.

The Green Kitchen Project, here we go!

(photo by Helena Mackey)

I had Helena over for breakfast and thought it was about time to make banana bread again. I appreciate and cherish time with Helena all the more now for she's moving abroad in May. She's a gem and she makes me very happy.

BANANA BREAD

100g almond flour
90g wheat flour (300ml flour altogether)
40g (230ml) shredded coconut
50g (75ml) cane sugar
a pinch of salt
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
1tsp cinnamon

3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
100ml oil


Combine the dry and wet ingredients separately, beat the wet mixture a little and then mix all together. Bake in a greased bread tin in 180 celsius for 50-60 minutes. Serve toasted with Philadelphia (or as it is).

The original recipe has 230g wheat flour; I've tried different combinations and I have to say this was my favorite. You can make the bread gluten free by using a combination of almond and rice flour for example but I like using some wheat flour because it helps the bread stay together better and not crumble so easily. I've also reduced sugar to a third and replaced butter with oil (which makes the bread moistier and a little lighter). The bread stays good for about 3 days.

Have a happy Tuesday!